Parkinson becomes the new king of Bells

Australian Joel Parkinson hits the peak of his form on his way to the biggest victory of his career at Bells Beach yesterday.
Photo: Pierre Tostee/ASP

Father-to-be Joel Parkinson yesterday achieved his dream of winning at the ancestral home of Australian surfing - the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.

Gold Coast-based Parkinson, 23, turned on what he called his greatest day of surfing to beat the world champion, two former winners and last year's world No. 3 Taj Burrow in the final to claim his first Bells title.

Parkinson was unstoppable as he avenged his defeat in last year's final by world champion Andy Irons.

He recorded the only perfect-10 score of the tournament on his way to beating Irons in the semi-final after defeating another former Bells winner, fellow Queenslander Mick Fanning, in the quarters.

So dominant was Parkinson that Irons conceded the semi-final to him with eight minutes of surfing time remaining.

He then took his form into the final, carving out a spectacular ride on his opening wave against Burrow to score a 9.63.

By contrast, the West Australian's first ride was a flop - Burrow breaking his surfboard on his head as he tumbled heavily into one of the larger waves of inconsistent 1.5-metre swell.

While Burrow was scrambling back to shore to change boards, Parkinson followed with a 7.5, effectively killing off the contest before the West Australian had registered a decent wave.

Yesterday's final victory - 17.13 points to 14.04 - started what promises to be a big month for Parkinson. His girlfriend Monica is eight months' pregnant with their first child.

But as for capping off the year with the world title that surfing aficionados have been tipping for the affable Queenslander ever since he joined the pro tour in 1999, he was non-committal after winning his first event in more than two years.

"Every event's different - but it definitely helps," Parkinson said. "It's pretty early to be talking about title races and stuff but I'm glad I've started it off well."

After two rounds of this year's tour, Parkinson's $40,000 winner's cheque pushed him into second place behind Irons in the championship race.

Earlier, six-time world champion Kelly Slater was unluckily eliminated in the quarter-finals by American veteran Pat O'Connell.

Slater tried in vain to catch a huge wave as the hooter sounded to mark the end of the quarter-final. But judges ruled he had not started his ride in time and it was not counted, allowing O'Connell through to the semis, in which he was beaten by Burrow.

An angry Slater smashed his board in frustration on the way back to the competitors' area - with the ride he produced good enough to have earned the score to beat O'Connell.

Tournament officials said they had made the right decision, with video replays showing Slater's hands had not left the rails of his board before the hooter sounded.